Legendry Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer had once said that creativity in kalpitha sangeetham would itself take an artiste to elevation rather than creative music. T.N. Sesagopalan was creative. Yet, his creativity was within the confines of tradition.

It was a pleasant sight to see stalwarts such as Seshagopalan, T.K. Moorthy (mridangam), Chandrasekhar (violin) and T.V.Vasan (ghatam) on stage performing for Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha on the evening of December 19. There was good attendance. It was encouraging to see a lot of youngsters among the audience. The over three-hour concert of Seshagopalan-led veterans marked for its rich content. It also brought out the large-heartedness of these vidwans. There was no one-upmanship game. The mutual respect for each other was in full view. And, the bonhomie between them was very conspicuous. They unhesitatingly appreciated each other.

Quality was in abundance. So too was quantity. And, there was plenty to take home for those who had made it for the veterans' concert. There was something simple about their personalities. Inside each one of them, however, is embedded an outstanding artiste.

Experience in concert singing, mastery over the subject and command over music were all in full display as he rendered swaras and niraval. He did not opt for the manodharma sangeetham such as RTP (ragam, tanam and pallavi). On the contrary, he improvised on the kalpitha sangeetham. As he took up Thyagaraja's racy kriti "Telisi Rama" (Poornachandrika) with ease, it perked up the mood of the audience. The way he constructed the swaras showed his caliber. The Andal pasurum "Azhi Mazhai Kanna" in Varali was preceded by a Dyana sloka of Andal "Annavai Puduvai Andal". He rendered a Tamil slokam "Kothai Pirantha Ur" with clear diction. Those who aren't aware of Andal pasurams are a burden to this earth, so said the line "Vaiyakam Sumapathum Vambu". It instantly set smiles on the faces of the rasikas, who listened to this with rapt attention. The timely sense of humour betrayed by the artiste went down well with the audience. Seshagopalan struck a rapport with the discerning rasikas by singing "Ganamurthy" in vivadi mela raga Ganamurthy with great felicity. The Madhyamavathy raga alapana was incredible for the way he traversed the tara and mantra sthayi with consummate skill. Violinist Chandrasekhar was classy.

"Sri Parthasarathy" saw Seshagopalan at his enthusiastic best. Kritis such as Ranganayakam (Nayaki) and Pankaja Lochana of Swati Tirunal in Kalyani all warmed the hearts of the audience. Seshagopalan improvised the kriti with neraval of "Vrindavana Kruta vivitha sutha vihara " and sent the rasikas into trance, as tongue-twisting swaras gushed out like a torrent. The tani avarthanam by the mrdangam artiste T.K. Murthy and T.V. Vasan was elegant for the sheer improvisation and classy for execution. It was a grand feast of a treat. As his wont, Seshagopalan picked up a line from a Sanskrit composition and delivered it in several ragas. "Sayankale Vananthe Kusumitha Samaye" in ragas such as Hamsanandi, Chandrika, Darbari Kanada et al. All of a sudden, he let his son(T.N.S.Krishna) to sing an alapana. The junior was impressive when he did a solo singing for a brief while. The senior violinist was liberal in applauding junior Seshagopalan's short and sweet alapana. Seshagopalan then sang the line ``Srungara Bavaiti Navarasa Baritha'' in ragas such as Atana, Sama, Sahana, Ranjani, Shubapantuvarali, Katanakutuhalam, Kuntalavarali, Neelambari, Bowli, Sivaranjani, Kapi, Suruti and Sindhubhairavi. Well, it was a brilliant exercise and brought wholesome enjoyment for the audience. Moreover, it served as an IQ test for the connoisseurs. A pasuram from Divya Pabandam "Appodaiykku Eppode Sollivaithen" and a tillana in Chandrakauns brought the concert to a close. He signed it off with "Vanga Kadal Kadainda".